Do Ion drives have the potential to change the future of transportation or is the technology limited in it's applications?
46-50, M
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TheOneyouwerewarnedabout · 41-45, MVIP
Is this a Star Trek thing?
Xuan12 · 31-35, M
@TheOneyouwerewarnedabout Naw, these are real, just not as seen on TV. Some guy recently made a small super-light aircraft that was able to power itself a few hundred feet using ion propulsion. It might have gone further, but it ran into a wall. They're a lot better in space, but still.
TheOneyouwerewarnedabout · 41-45, MVIP
why stop there.. sounds like free energy.. 😳
Xuan12 · 31-35, M
@TheOneyouwerewarnedabout Eh? Quite the opposite. It takes tons of energy to make them work. They have to ionize a gas to use as propellant and jettison it out the back end at tremendous velocity.
It does have the advantage of having no moving parts, being very silent, and potentially zero-pollution, but it's hard to get enough electricity to run the things for most applications.
For reference, a modern ion engine produces about 250 millinewtons of thrust. A typical jetliner engine generates 22,000 regular newtons.
It does have the advantage of having no moving parts, being very silent, and potentially zero-pollution, but it's hard to get enough electricity to run the things for most applications.
For reference, a modern ion engine produces about 250 millinewtons of thrust. A typical jetliner engine generates 22,000 regular newtons.